Former President Abdulla Yameen has signed his candidacy form for upcoming Presidential Elections from Maafushi prison and sent to Elections Commission.
Yameen, sitting in jail for being convicted of bribery and money laundering has seen his petition to ensure his electoral rights rejected from the Supreme Court yesterday. However, his legal team and himself has no intention of backing down, as they believe he has every right to compete in the Presidential Election.
Elections Commission will accept candidacy forms for the Presidential Election until 7th of August. However, the commission has already declared that as of now, they are bound by the Constitution to reject Yameen’s candidacy as a convicted felon is prohibited from competing in the Presidential Elections until three years has been passed after completing the sentence, if the original sentence was more than 12 months.
While Yameen is currently serving an 11 year prison term, he cannot compete. PPM believes that his sentence was politically motivated and he will be freed from prison in superior courts once again, referring to Supreme Court nullifying Yameen’s earlier conviction.
